Alan Bradley

Name: Lon
DW username: n/a
E-Mail: lonstormhawk@gmail.com
IM: lonasaur

Other Characters: n/a

Character Name: Alan Bradley
Series: Tron Legacy
Timeline: When he leaves Sam's apartment after giving Sam the news that he received a page the previous night from Kevin's Arcade.
Canon Resource Link: Tron Legacy Wikipedia Entry | Tron Wiki | Alan on the Tron Wiki | Tron Legacy on the Tron Wiki
Character Background:
In 1982, Alan was working on a big project for ENCOM - a self-monitoring security program called Tron. However, when he tried to compile, he found that his access to the company server had been temporarily denied, as someone was trying to hack into the company mainframe. That person turned out to be none other than Kevin Flynn. While Alan acknowledged that Kevin was one of ENCOM's brightest programmers, there was clearly bad blood between them - not in some small part due to Alan's jealousy that his girlfriend, Lora Baines, was Kevin's ex.

Upon confronting Flynn, however, they learned that he was hacking to find evidence that the programs that their supervisor, Executive Vice President Ed Dillinger, had originally been Flynn's, and that Dillinger had stolen them. Alan's sense of justice was strong enough for him to overcome his jealousy and agree to help Flynn.

They were eventually successful, and the two men became unlikely allies; Flynn rose to CEO of ENCOM, and Alan, his partner in crime, was promoted to COO. They remained best friends, even as Flynn started to become more and more obsessed with the Grid, to the point that he wouldn't be seen for days. This left Alan holding the fort against ENCOM's board, which was more concerned with profits than with Flynn's special pet project, and checking in on his godson Sam, who was in the care of his maternal grandparents, as his mother had died.

In July of 1989, Kevin Flynn disappeared, and Alan did all he could to keep ENCOM running the way Flynn had. He acted as CEO for as long as he could, but eventually the Board grew too strong and he was appointed to Executive Consultant instead. He tried to be the father than Flynn could not be to Sam, helping with homework and trying to help the boy through his grief. Alan never gave up hope that Flynn was out there, somewhere, alive - he still carries the pager Flynn told him to sleep with, even though the number connected to it was disconnected 20 years ago. He founded the Flynn Lives campaign with his friend Roy Kleinberg under the alias ISOlatedthinker. He does what he can to keep ENCOM's activities in line with Flynn's morals, but the Board believes his views are outdated.

Alan has a strong sense of justice and, once committed to a cause, loyal to it. Nevertheless, he believes that each person should take up responsibility and be safe - this shows in his distaste of Sam's crazy stunts. He also has shown some signs of rebellion or revenge: he enjoys Sam's annual pranks on the ENCOM board, as ENCOM seized control of the company from them and they poke fun at him, though he knows his way around corporations (both in the light and the dark corners) and doesn't take sass from anyone.

Alan is a hardworking, fatherly individual; often he worked late for ENCOM, and when possible, he tried to prepare Sam to eventually take back ENCOM from the board and lead it like his father once had. He can't help but to be a little disappointed at Sam's unwillingness to do so - he knows that Sam must care about ENCOM and what it represents (otherwise Sam wouldn't bother with annual pranks), but Sam shirks the responsibility that an official position would require.

Alan is driven to do what is right, even though it may go against the rules; otherwise, he sticks to regulations. He's not afraid to fight dirty if that's the only option for justice to be served, and if it does come to that, he knows how to cover his tracks. However, this is not to say that Alan is a stick in the mud. He has a sense of humor and is very close to those he loves. For instance, when Flynn gave him the nickname "Tron", after his security program, Alan played along.

In normal circumstances, the first things one would notice about Alan are his welcoming smile and attitude. He believes that every person has a strength that they can bring to the table, even those he doesn't get along with. Despite his advancing age, Alan is by no means technologically illiterate; he is quick to adapt to new situations so long as they're not overwhelmingly different.

Overall, at his point in canon, his role is to be the mentor to Sam Flynn and an official link to ENCOM, trying to get the younger Flynn to take back the company from the board as majority shareholder. After the events of Tron Legacy, he will go on to become Chairman of the Board as Sam takes back the company, closing down the Flynn Lives movement - it's no longer necessary now that ENCOM is back on track.

Abilities/Special Powers: Alan is an exceptional hacker and programmer. He created the security program Tron - which was able to monitor both internal and external security threats, and adjust itself - and worked on many games and operating systems released by ENCOM. Furthermore, he is one of the two masterminds (and likely founder) behind the Flynn Lives movement, which required strong hacking abilities and corporate espionage. However, Alan's just a normal human being, so this hacking takes time and perseverance.

Third-Person Sample:

It was past midnight when the pager beeped.

Alan stirred in his bed, the noise bringing him into a state of half-awareness. Rolling over, he adjusted his pillow and shut his eyes again, falling back into a doze.

It beeped again, and suddenly the significance of that tiny chime jolted Alan awake. The pager. Kevin's pager. He'd forgotten what it sounded like - he hadn't gotten a page in twenty years.

The programmer scrambled for the device, glasses and bedside table lamp an afterthought. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew it had to be too good to be true, that it must be some kind of defect in the device - but in his heart of hearts, he hoped that somehow, against all odds, his friend had found a way to send a message to him through the pager he'd kept with him for so long.

He held his breath as he read the screen. It had come from the Arcade. His heartbeat quickened; he had to call Sam. Sam had to hear about this, had to hear about it right away--

Alan froze.

The Arcade's phone lines hadn't been connected in twenty years. His fist clenched tight around the pager, mouth falling into a grimace. He didn't want to believe it, but a defect was the only logical answer. He'd managed to keep the charger for the thing this long, which was a miracle in itself, but it had been twenty years. It was a miracle it hadn't broken earlier.

Alan pulled his glasses off with his free hand and laid them back on the nightstand. He slowly let out the breath he'd been holding, scrubbing his hand across his face. The page didn't even have a message to accompany it, just the number it'd originated from, the one Alan had seared into his brain.

Turning the light off, he settled back against the pillows, staring at his pager, alone in the dark. He didn't know what to make of this. Believing Flynn was out there was one thing - he knew it was true, knew it had to be true; Flynn would never leave his son - but a wild page from a long-disconnected number on an outdated piece of technology was another issue altogether. On the eve of the anniversary of Flynn's disappearance, no less.

He had to tell Sam. He'd hand over the keys to the arcade - always heavy in his coat pocket - and get Sam to check it out. The younger Flynn deserved to know first. However jaded Sam tried to appear, Alan knew that Sam was still hurt by the loss of his father and that, as much as he tried to hide it, as much as he tried to crush it, some part of Sam still believed.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow he'd deliver the news, after whatever prank Sam pulled and they made it back to Sam's apartment.

Alan wasn't sure it was a good idea, but it was the right one.


First-Person Sample:
--ou give me directions?

[The feed's dim, but not completely dark, when it activates. It seems to tilt, and for a moment a flash of blue sky is visible before the screen turns back to shadow.]

No, I'm not interested in any of this. I don't even think I want to get into how I got here - I just want to know how to get home.

[He sighs. The vendor's refusal to answer is really starting to frustrate him - he needs to get back, damnit.]

Customers only, is that what you're trying to say? Fine, I'll buy something.

[The rustle of cloth is loud as he reaches for his wallet, only for his hand to close around the journal. He pulls the foreign object from his pocket warily. It's not his phone.

When he realizes it's recording, his bargaining with the silent vendor is momentarily put on hold.

The screen lurches, flashes of the landscape showing before it stops. A bespectacled man in his late fifties appears on screen, eyebrows furrowed.]

Hello?